23Unexpected Surprises In The Night
There it was again, a loud banging noise. It was the second time Georg heard the noise and this time he bolted straight up in his bed. He had not been asleep for long, the adrenalin pumping through his body after the excitement of the evening had kept him from falling asleep.
He glanced at his clock. It was one o'clock in the morning and everyone should have been tucked safely away in their beds. He couldn't imagine who in the household would be awake at such an hour. Then he heard it again, the unmistakable sound of pots and pans clattering around and then the sound of broken glass hitting the floor.
His paternal protective instincts took over and he jumped from his bed throwing on his robe and shuffling his feet into his slippers. He quietly left his room being very careful not to make a sound. If there was an intruder in the house he wanted to be able to sneak up on them.
He stopped by each of the children's rooms and peaked in. They were all sound asleep and whatever was going on down below had not affected their peaceful slumber. All right, he thought, if it's an intruder I'll just sneak up on them from behind and try to grab them. I'm trained in hand to hand combat. I can handle this.
He slowly crept down the stairs taking note of the fact that not a single light had been turned on. Surely if it was one of the servants rummaging around in the kitchen they would have turned on a light. The darkness made him uneasy and all of his senses were suddenly heightened. Whoever it was, they were not going to get away.
He stayed close to the wall with his back to it, eyes darting around the room looking for any danger that might be lurking in the shadows. He came closer to the kitchen door and he slowly took one more glance around the room as he carefully opened it.
All of the sudden his shoulders bumped into a warm body and with adrenaline pumping through his veins he instinctively swung around and grabbed their torso. They both fell to the ground and he rolled over on top of his trespasser taking their arms in his hands and pinning them to the ground.
There was a faint glow of moonlight casting a shadow across the kitchen floor and his eyebrows raised in surprise when he found a pair of blue eyes staring wildly back at him. He quickly propped himself up on his elbows to alleviate some of his weight off of his victim's smaller frame.
"Maria," he exasperatedly groaned, "what are you doing at such an hour of the night?" For a split second his heart fell into the pit of his stomach when she didn't answer right away, thinking that he may have actually hurt her. "Maria," he softly said, "Did I hurt you?"
She finally awakened from her shocked state of mind, "Uh...no...no, I'm fine. I was just...just..." She felt her head spinning and was having a difficult time responding to him with his body being pressed to hers. She wondered if he would always have this affect on her when he was this close. She cleared her throat trying to regain her composure and then continued on, "I was just hungry. I didn't eat much at dinner and I couldn't sleep so I came down to grab something."
His eyebrows went up, "Ah...in the dark?"
"Well I had the smaller light on over the sink and I had just turned it off and was heading back to bed when you came through the door and so gracefully tackled me down to the ground," she said with a frown.
His eyes slowly traced the path from the bridge of her nose down to her lips and even in the dim light of a dark room he could see traces of apples and crumbs at the corners of her mouth. "Let me guess," he began teasingly with a twinkle in his eye, "you..uh...didn't happen to have been into the leftover apple strudel, did you?"
Her mouth flew open in disbelief. "How...," she began, but he quickly cut her off before she could finish the question.
"Oh ho, I have my ways my dear fraulein, remember I've been trained in reconnaissance," He gave her a wink and watched as a lovely shade of red crept over her beautiful facial features. He loved having that affect on her. She was grateful she wasn't standing because she suddenly became very light headed and could feel that familiar sensation of her stomach turning inside out, a feeling that only he could elicit in her.
"Have you ever heard of that delightful little invention called a napkin, Maria?"
She looked at him sheepishly shrugging her shoulders as she became fully aware that the evidence of her romp through the kitchen must have been all over her face. "Oh," she mouthed, "well if you'll let me get up I could take care of that right away."
"I don't think that will be necessary," he said with a seductive grin, "I could help with that." She felt a shiver go up her spine as his lips descended on hers. She closed her eyes as they came together and reveled in the warmth of his love. She could feel his tongue as it moved around the edges of her mouth from one corner to the other and she desired more of him. Throwing her arms around him, she ran her fingers through his hair, wanting to feel him closer.
All of the sudden the lights flipped on in the kitchen and he immediately separated from her, rolling over onto his back. They both sat up to see seven sets of eyes fixated on them with stunned looks. They shockingly looked at each other, shrugging with wide eyes, and then back at the children.
Friedrich was the first to speak, "We heard noises and came down to see what was going on."
Then Gretl asked the question that they were all dying to ask, "Father, what are you and Fraulein Maria doing on the kitchen floor?"
He cleared his throat. "We...uh...well...," he turned to Maria looking for help, but for the first time in a long time he could see that she was completely speechless...and something else...amusement? "Well you see darling, I...uh...heard a loud noise and...uh...naturally I came down to um investigate it's source."
Liesl rolled her eyes and eyed him curiously, "Really father?" The other children had sent her into the kitchen first to turn the lights on and she had caught the tale end of his so called investigation and she wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily. "Is there something that you and Fraulein Maria want to tell us?"
They both stood up and he let out a huge breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. He turned to her and nodded with a small smile playing at his lips. Grabbing her hand he turned back to his children.
"Well, we were going to tell you in the morning, but since you're all up we might as well tell you now I suppose."
It was Kurt's turn to speak up now, "She isn't going to be leaving us again is she? She's going to stay on as our governess?"
"No, not exactly."
The children all began to cry out at the same time, "Oh, no not again...she can't leave us...we don't want her to go."
Georg threw his hands up in the air, "Children...children!" They all stopped and looked up at him eagerly, "She's not going to be your governess anymore, but she isn't going anywhere either."
They all looked at him with confused looks on their faces. "We don't understand father," said Louisa.
"Well you see," he began thoughtfully stroking his chin, "Your fraulein and I were hoping that perhaps you all wouldn't mind sharing her with me?"
He watched them all and then noticed a huge smile forming on Brigitta's face, "Does that mean there isn't going to be a Baroness Shraeder anymore father?"
He nodded at her, "That's right Brigitta. If we have your permission, I'd like to marry your fraulein."
Every single one of them was now smiling and they all rushed to surround them, hugging them with gleeful sounds of joy. He put his arm around Maria, placing a light kiss on her forehead and with a smile he said, "Well fraulein, I think they approve." She smiled back at him and her heart was filled with nothing but pure blissful happiness. She had found her life and her place in this world and for the first time in a long time she felt like she belonged somewhere.